THE DATE PALM IN AMERICA. 



RESULTS OF THE ATTEMPTS TO PROP- 

 AGATE THIS TREE FOR COMMER- 

 CIAL PURPOSES IN THE SOUTHWEST. 



IN 1899 the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, in cooperation with 

 the Arizona University Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, started a Date Palm 

 orchard at Tempe, Arizona. Plants 

 were brought from Egypt, Algeria, Ara- 

 bia, and Beluchistan, and though the 

 experiment at first seemed to fall far 

 short of success, there is now sufficient 

 promise and prosperity in the planting 

 to warrant a continued interest and a 

 further study. The first failures were 

 due for the most part to a lack of knowl- 

 edge of comparative conditions in Amer- 

 ica and the Old World regions, where 

 the Date Palm grows to its highest per- 

 fection. 



The attempt to propagate this palm in 

 the arid regions of the southwest, where 

 adverse soil conditions are to be met, 

 even where there was an abundance of 

 water, grew out of the need of alkali- 

 resistant growths. The Date Palm fur- 

 nishes, in its native areas, a successful 

 alkali-resistant crop. Unfortunately, 

 first plantings were made without suffi- 

 cient data as to climatic conditions and 

 soil analyses; moreover, the long trans- 

 portation from Asia and Africa to Ari- 

 zona were a cogent factor against imme- 

 diate results, and plants had but little 

 opportunity to regain strength after 

 their long journey before an adverse 

 condition in the new habitat was likely 

 to prove fatal. 



The first importation, August 3, 1899, 

 comprised six medium-sized suckers, 

 rooted in tubs of earth, and were con- 

 signed to the Tempe orchard from 

 Algiers, via Washington. These were 

 planted in sub-irrigated ground and were 

 watered at irregular intervals. They 

 had second-rate care, and died after 

 giving only temporary signs of -growth. 

 Sixteen small suckers from a male tree 

 near the proposed orchard were also 

 planted that year, but these again had 

 insufficient care, due to inconvenient ar- 



rangements, and died soon after, prob- 

 ably because of a lack of water in the 

 beginning. The next year 100 native- 

 grown seedlings were transplanted at 

 Tempe, f rom Alhambra, Ariz. In trans- 

 portation they had been balled in dry 

 soil, and were soaked three days in ditch 

 water before being planted, April 30, 

 1900. These were irrigated, but not 

 quite as often as they should have been. 

 The frosts of the two succeeding win- 

 ters, 1901-02 and 1902-03, cut them 

 back severely. At the end of last sum- 

 mer, although the plants were small, 

 64 had survived. In July, 1900, 445 

 suckers came from Algiers, via New 

 York and New Orleans. Some of these 

 \vere sent to Berkeley and Pomona, Cal. , 

 a few to Phoenix, Ariz., but most of 

 them, 384, went to the Tempe orchard. 

 These were frosted the next winter and 

 many gave no evidence of growth until 

 the hot weather of August and Septem- 

 ber, 1901. These were given the best 

 of care in watering, and the frost of 

 1902 did but little damage. Three- 

 fourths of this shipment may be con- 

 sidered as now established, including 

 23 of the 26 varieties imported. The 

 Rhars and Deglet Noor varieties were 

 the most numerous of this shipment, 

 and 1 7 of the former and one of the latter 

 bore small crops of fruit only two years 

 after transplanting. The Rhars can 

 possibly be grown in a cooler locality 

 than the Salt River Valley, but the 

 Deglet Noor requires a long, hot season 

 to develop its fruit. In May, 1901, 

 eighteen suckers were received from 

 L/ower Egypt, and a year later, although 

 five were growing and might be con- 

 sidered established, the rest had died. 

 The reason for this high percentage of 

 loss was not apparent, as the plants had 

 received excellent care. It was proba- 

 bly a case of too great difference in soil 

 or climate conditions not understood. 

 In October of this year 35 fair-sized 



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